strangers
by MessengerOfDreams
Summary: Nothing is as underestimated and as powerful as simple conversation. Vignette series. For Tune4Toons' Birthday.
1. prologue

**Happy birthday, Anna Chaos. Kind of. **

_"Mind telling me why you're always by yourself?"_

_"I'm not sure if I'll fit in."_

_"Dude, he's green, half of me is metal, and she's from space! You fit in just fine."_

**Prologue**

The end is never the end.

I tend to think of my bits of life as a series of little vignettes, in that my life is always changing at breakneck speed to the point where I feel like I'm living bits and pieces of a hundred different Ravens, like the time you and Beast Boy had to fight a crazy mob of schizophrenic pieces of myself in my own mind. I can't help but feel that's an accurate representation of my life; one central Raven and a million different things around her. The end of one moment is the start of another.

It's been admittedly reassuring to have a few things stay the same. The giant, somewhat tacky twentieth letter house we live in; the partners-in-crime and eventual friends I've been shacked up with; the battles we've faced or even instigated from the firestarters in Jump City from as minor as crooks to as large as masterminds; and the hidden rush I get from having a mission and the abilities to complete it.

It's been a strange life. But I'm a strange girl in a group of strange people. Sometimes it's hard to feel attached to other people, like I still haven't quite gotten to know them. I think they're still alienated by me, or I'm even still alienated by them. I am an alien, after all. They forget that, because Starfire is a more flagrant example of a stranger in a strange land; I still don't think she knows her way around Earth the way I do. Change is second nature to me now, and so are strange things. I am a strange girl, after all. I'm an alien, a superpowered mutant, pale as death, purveyor of darkness, someone with massive capabilities, proven and patented fright factor, and totally and utterly out-of-the-ordinary.

It's strange to be human. It's strange to be me. I've been blessed, however, to have someone to talk to. I've always felt like I'm the strangest Titan, although I'm sure all of us feel that we are. Almost by instinct, perhaps by caution, likely by preference, I've been the lone wolf of the group. Robin and Starfire are busy being in love, Beast Boy is busy being social with literally anyone willing to talk to him, and you've been... you. Outgoing, confident, well-spoke, funny, charismatic, the one that's there for me.

I've learned that it's hard to tell a story that only one person is in, so this is the story of the both of us.

**I'm gonna do a series of short vignettes. I have always found these two to be the most interesting and intricate characters, and every one of their interactions is golden. I'm going to have fun writing these two, and I hope I get them right. There aren't enough stories about these two; friendly, romantic, or otherwise, and they really are dynamic together.  
**


	2. sleepless nights

**_Sleepless Nights_ **

After the clean sweep happened, and everyone short of Dr. Light and a few others were frozen in time, things got quiet. Yet, at the same time, things didn't. Things changed in our lives, but it wasn't to the city. The city never faced an emergency like it did again. I still haven't gotten adjusted to it, but it'll happen. It always does.

I try to relax myself nowadays. It's not been easy; I don't relax easily, nor should I. I've given it a few months since what Beast Boy affectionately calls the "brain freeze" to see if I could try and relax. I've deduced that relaxing is not in my DNA.

But it's a long night, and I haven't much else to do, so I stand up and glare at myself in the mirror. The reflection is not impressed that I decided to still wear my cape and leotard as if I expect Slade to burst through with his hand at my throat... or Beast Boy with another obnoxious prank. I sigh and decide to spend a few minutes wearing normal-person clothing. I may as well masquerade a bit.

My legs feel strange being concealed in pant legs, but I'll live. I've survived worse.

The options are relatively narrowed down for me. Whatever Robin and Starfire are doing is likely nothing I am even remotely interested in. I tried hanging out with Beast Boy once. Once. I guess that only leaves one person.

Truth be told, I was heading there anyways.

**-T-**

You're wearing that ridiculous grin when I walk into the garage unannounced, and you're unsurprisingly working on our trusty T-Car, some form of techno-rock-punk-step playing so loud I'm surprised that the vibrations don't cause the T to cave in. I motion downwards, trying not to be blown away by the sound like a leaf in an obnoxious top-of-the-charts wind. You laugh, although I can't hear it, and press a few buttons somewhere on your robotic suit.

Ah, blissful silence. I try not to pass out with joy and just nod, cracking the tiniest grin I could allow.

"Yo, Raven!" When you say my name, you're enthusiastic, but you always are, so I brush it off. I wonder if you just wanted a visitor too. I just nod again.

"What are you up to?" you ask, placing your wrench in one of your compartments and pulling up a stool.

"Nothing," I reply, "so don't stop yourself on my behalf."

"Nah," you insist, walking over to a fridge. Your boots clank on the concrete ground, but I've gotten used to it. "I've got all the time in the world to work on this baby."

_Don't tempt fate,_ I want to say, but I keep silent. You'd just tell me not to get paranoid as you always do, so I just smile to even the scale of predictable answers.

"If you insist," I reply, pulling up one of your stools. It's a pretty nice setup you've got in here. Lots of platinum, black, and other colors and textures that scream state-of-the-art and high-tech. Of course, I'd expect no less from someone who is half-metal as it is.

You pop out a soda for myself, and a beer for you. It really has been awhile.

"Twenty-one already," I muse.

You nod, taking a stool for yourself. "And still hasn't learned not to be a mechanic while intoxicated. Grape good?"

I don't care much for soda, but if you're offering, I'll take it. "Fine with me." I try to smile again.

You take a sip. "Something wrong, Raven?"

I genuinely don't think so, so I shake my head. "Not as far as I'm concerned. You?"

"Oh, you know... same old, same old."

"Sounds about right."

You give me a puzzled look, as if my clipped speaking is a new anomaly rather than an old anomaly. You look into your beer bottle, as if asking it for courage, and ask, "are you sure nothing's wrong?"

I sigh and decide to make him back off. I'm not in the mood. "You're making something wrong right now," I mutter, in low, rehearsed tones.

"Okay, okay," you throw your hand up in the air before taking another drink. You seem disappointed, and take a larger sip than usual. Trying not to appear meek, I take a drink of my soda as well. It tastes like neon colors, and I already don't like it. In the back of my mind, I try to think of a way to not drink this without making you feel bad.

I decide to direct the conversation to you. "So, what have you been up to? Just the car, or other things?"

"Ah, well, pretty much. I mean, as of late. That, and video game matches and other lazy things. There's not much else to do, but I guess that's pretty much the case when you've frozen up ninety-five percent of the criminal population."

"It's almost enough to make you wish the other five would show up," I blurt. I don't mean to say it, but I think it. I hope you can brush it off as one of my charming little quips.

To my surprise, I hear you whisper, "you know, kind of."

I exhale sharply. "Thank God I wasn't the only one feeling that way," I nearly shout, grabbing my drink despite myself.

You laugh, a lot more amused at me than I am. "Quiet, Raven, you're gonna wake everyone up!"

I take a drink and then retort, "and your contortion of music won't?"

"Hey! My music ain't half bad!" you reply, getting spirited. "Your music, however, could put Beast Boy to sleep after he raids my fridge again!

I smirk, prepared to explain once again to him that post-rock music is much more of a music genre than telephone line screeching. "I think my music is less harmful to one's health. Yours is more like a drill to the brain."

You slam your beer down, as if you're going to school me, but I can see the spirit in your eyes. "But your crap, I mean, that even music? I mean, it's more like sound and air. I don't think it counts."

"As compared to yours, where it sounds more like someone's violating a smoke alarm," I retort.

You roll your eyes dramatically. "Well, yours is called post-rock, like it's the death of all rock, which is pretty much correct."

I laugh briefly. "Damn. Well, you've got a point there. That name is seriously pretentious."

You grin, taking another quick drink of your beer. "Ah, whatever."

I don't have a response, so I just spin the bottle of soda around. The glass clinks around whenever it hits the metal table, kind of like how you walk. When it starts getting awkward, I look around me, searching for a conversation of topic. I end up with a lame, listless "so..."

You look around the room pensively, thoughtfully. Suddenly, you seem to remember something. "Have you been sleeping any better lately?"

Immediately I give a pointed look to your digital clock that reads 1:30am in big green letters. "Take a guess."

You nod. "I gotcha. I haven't been getting much either, but I don't know. I guess it's just boredom getting to me. I don't feel as paranoid as I used to."

I close my eyes, perturbed by the complications of my own mind. "Hmm... it's funny how the most unnerving thing that could ever happen to us was... peace."

"I know," you reply, in that tone that indicates that we're about to have a good conversation. "I mean, I've kind of let it go, and Beast Boy is just..."

"Beast Boy?" I interrupt.

"Yeah! You know, he's always got kind of a good outlook on things, always trying to have fun. I think it's good for him that he's having some time off to relax. He's earned it, especially after how things went down."

"I... have to agree with that." My thoughts drift to Beast Boy. Despite his being the same age as I, I have always seen him as an obnoxious-yet-lovable big brother. While most have us have been holed up as we try to cope with the idea of not having hordes of people actually trying to kill us, Beast Boy has just been living it up, enjoying it all. How he does that I cannot say, because I don't think I'll ever understand him. I'll admit it, sometimes I envy his spirit. I continue with, "and Starfire is... well..."

"Starfire?"

"Exactly," I respond. It's funny how well we bounce off of each other in conversation. Most of the other Titans don't mesh well with me as far as conversation goes, which is why I always talk to you. "You know, being ridiculously happy, unfazed, grateful..." _All of those other things I am not and likely will never be._

"In loooooove," you respond teasingly, despite the fact that she is not here to make blush with embarrassment.

_All of those other things that I am not and likely will never be._

"True," I sigh. "Obnoxiously in love. Cheesily in love. Loudly in love."

"Hey, don't knock it until you try it," you insist. "It could be fun."

I'm not sure how to respond with that, but I know I'm blushing. I brush it off with an annoyed, "well, you don't have to sleep two rooms down from them."

"Whoa!" I've caught you off guard, and I'm stunned you hold onto your drink. Next thing I know, you're laughing, shaking your head. "Good game, good game." You set your drink onto the table just in case I should say anything else off-color and shocking. At that rate, I'm surprised you have ever held onto your drink at all.

"Still," you repeat, "you never know what will happen until you try it."

"Hmph," is my eloquent reply, but I'm thinking about it. "It is... curious, I'll admit." That's more than I've admitted to most of the time, however. Before the conversation can dedicate to my thoughts, I push it back to you. "And you? Have you ever tried it?"

"Uhm..." You seem hesitant to respond, but I raise my eyebrow to make sure you know that I'm not the only one digging deep today. "Well, a few times. You know, high schoolers thinking they know all about the _human_ heart." Your emphasis on human is strange, and doesn't go unnoticed.

"They're all thinking they'll last, be high school sweethearts, and then end up breaking up over stupid things and they realize that they really can't handle it. Like, it felt great for awhile, but then you realized you were in over your head."

You twirl your beer bottle around, looking into it as if there is a sea of memories inside. "Course, ever since everything changed, I haven't really thought about it. Not really important to me anymore."

"Hmm... you mean being an adult now?" I know you don't, but I figured the formality would be encouraging.

"Yeah, that... and other things. The market for robot-human hybrids isn't exactly rich." You laugh, almost as if you mean it.

"Whatever." I kick you in your shin. It echoes.

You make a smile. "Well, you know. There's probably a niche market for guys like me. Maybe some chicks dig the whole metal thing. You never know."

I can't get a good read on your emotions, so I decide to end the conversation with a quip. "Well, if Beast Boy is getting any..."

You take the bait and laugh. "There's hope for us! Woohoo!" I don't know if it's the beer talking or if you've only had one, but if you're in good spirits, I'll take it.

I glance at our trusty T-Car, likely so updated that it may as well be new. You're an impressive mechanic; I should know, you've actually gotten me into it a few times every now and again. The T-Car is unlike any other car in the world. It's the only one of its kind and can do things no other car can do. It's only fitting that this is ours.

"You ever think of making something out of that?" I ask him, gesturing to the car.

"You know what..." you're interested, and you get off your stool towards your brainchild. "I actually have. I've been giving this baby a lot of work, and it's reminded me of why I created her to begin with."

Your feminine pronouns towards a car still confuse me, but I'm listening.

"I've built this car to function as an extension of my own abilities, you know, it can run with my systems and I can control it that way, and I'm wondering what I can do with that sort of thinking. I want to see if I just can't make a car that is compatible with the normal human system. It won't be as advanced, but it'll be perfect for them."

Again, it's that separation from normal human being that I pick up as a recurring theme in my mind (and apparently yours), and again, I ignore it. "That sounds... big."

"It is," you admit, making your way back to the table. "It's a pipe dream, but it's still a dream, and I'm excited for it."

I avert my gaze and smile for a moment. I like how you have a vision and the motivation to do things. I could use a little bit of that for myself.

I'm expecting the question before you even ask it, and I dread the fact that I don't have an answer. "So what about you, Rave? Anything peaking your interest now that things are quieter?"

I shrug. "Not at this moment."

"You ever think about what you want to do with the rest of your life?"

"I haven't had much time or faith to."

"You totally can, you know. I think things are really settling down over here, and if not, we'll be ready and better than ever. We've got our friends and our crew all over the city; hell, all over the world. Things will never be as hard on us as they were before. So, just tell me, what do you want to do now?"

"Keep talking to you?" The response is out before I can stop it.

"I'm flattered," you grin, "but you know what I mean."

I pretend to give it some thought, as if I don't already know that my answer will be "Like I said, I haven't given it any thought."

"Well, something's gotta put a pep in your step," you reply almost immediately, as if you've been thinking about this. I want to ask, but I don't think I should. "I think you need a little pick me up. Maybe being an inventor or falling ridiculously in love isn't your thing-"

"They're not. I'm shit with a wrench, and I hate romance novels." I insist.

"All right, but I'll tell you what, you need a spirit boost."

"I do?" I ask dryly, distancing myself with sarcasm.

You frown. "Raven, I'm serious. Find your calling or something. Things are going pretty well for us, and that's a blessing, not a curse. The city has finally cleaned up, and you're staying holed up in the tower. Enjoy the fruits of your labor a bit, will ya?"

Sometimes when you show concern for my well-being, it annoys me. Others, it endears me that someone has my back. Right now, I'm not sure what to think, so I brush it off with, "okay."

You take another drink and nod quietly.

I think about going back to my room, but in that always-appreciated habit one's mind has of trailing off almost immediately, I remember my fellow tenants, and before I can stop myself, I ask, "do you think they'll make it?"

"Who?" You try not to act surprised when you respond. "Robin and Starfire?"

"Just curious," I defend myself.

You think about it for a second. "Yeah, I think they will. They've fought together for years. They already knew each other inside and out before they even set foot in Japan. Besides, weren't you here the other day?"

"When they got into a fight over some insipid thing I can't remember and Starfire slapped him clear across the tower?" I crack a grin at the expense of my fellow sleepless crew-member. "Come to think of it... that's probably what begs the question."

You laugh at the memory. "Yeah, yeah, I know, but... personally, I think that if you can get so angry at someone and then go back to macking on them nearly a year into a relationship, then you're probably going to go a long way. If they can take each other's crap, then they're golden."

"Sort of like different music tastes," I muse.

"Kind of."

I chuckle dryly.

"How's the soda?" you finally ask.

"Tastes like a scented marker," I admit, "but thanks anyway." I feel like I'm drowning in a sea of conversation that's way bigger than me, so I announce, "I'm going to try and sleep some now."

You smile. "You go ahead and do that, Raven. I'll be out here." It's an invite, just not stated as much."

I get up to take my leave. "Although if you even try and turn on your music again, I'll kill you."

You laugh. "And maybe you can leave some of yours down here so I can get some sleep too."

I offer a small, sarcastic laugh punctuated my a smirk before I turn away. When I know you can't see me, I smile.


End file.
